This invention relates generally to the field of telephony, and more particularly to an improved individual subscriber circuit module for use with laminar type connector blocks of a type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,071 dated Mar. 14, 1989 and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
In laminar block construction, there are provided a plurality of juxtaposed laminae each mounting plural insulation displacement contacts in coplanar relation which project laterally at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the laminae. The laminae are usually only one quarter inch thick, and afford high circuit density. However, it has proven difficult to provide a suitable detachable heavy duty circuit protector module for such construction.
In copending application Ser. No. 306,084, filed Feb. 6, 1989, under the title Laminary Type Telephone Block, said application being assigned to the same assignee as the present application, there is described a plurality of various modules of corresponding thickness for use with laminar block construction. Unfortunately, in the case of a subscriber circuit protector module resort must be made to a specialized gas tube assembly utilizing two two element gas tubes in coplanar relation for each protected circuit in order to maintain the thickness of the module at the same dimension as that of the engaged lamina. This construction has proven rather expensive to manufacture because of the specialized gas tubes employed and accompanying hardware, giving rise to the desirability of a simplified approach to the problem.